Your Eyes Tell Me What I Need to Know

Taking her seat in-between two teammates, Katrina Anderson watched as both teams took the ice. It was the last home game before the regular season would begin. Wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a Rangers shirt with the number 30 on the back with the Hank’s last name on it, Katrina couldn’t help but let her mind wander back to three weeks ago when she found herself lost in Queens. After Shannon had convinced her to actually call him and ask for help. After he came to her rescue the two of them went to eat before he took her home.

When spending so much time together, at first she felt like he was only doing it because he felt bad for her, that she was his charity case. After all she was alone in a new city, a big one at that. But the more time they spent together, Katrina couldn’t help but feel as if it was different than that. She wasn’t his charity case which was what she preferred. She refused to be anyone’s charity case.

The only thing that was bothering her was she felt as if he was holding back for some reason. Some secret that he didn’t want to share and it was a little annoying to her. Abby had asked her what was going on between her and Hank and when Katrina said that they were just friends she knew there was no way that Abby believed her. And if she were to be honest with herself, Katrina would have to admit there was something about Hank that just made her more interested in him than just friendship.

Watching the Rangers take the ice, she couldn’t help as her eyes stayed on Hank as he and his teammates warmed up. Feeling an elbow in her side, she looked at the person to see Abby with a grin on her face. Abby leaned in close so that she could talk above the noise. “Someone from Versus wants to interview you during intermission.”

“Why me?”

“Because you are the one in all those tabloids with the star goalie of the New York Rangers,” Abby laughed. “Plus you need to star promoting our team while you are out and about.”

Rolling her eyes at Abby, Katrina ran her hand through her hair. “Why can’t you do it? Aren’t you supposed to be the one that does these random interviews?”

“They asked me, but I don’t want to do it and I told them you wouldn’t mind.”

“You suck, Abby.”

“Well, maybe Hank will see your interview.”

“I hope not,” Katrina said. “When do they want to do the interview?”

“When the first period is over after the player interview.”

“I hope that they don’t ask if Hank and I are dating.”

“Well if you two would just do it then they’d stop asking about it,” Abby said. “Do they ask Hank that question?”

“Not anymore.”

“So it’s more you don’t wanna hear the question because neither of you will make a move.”

“Abby, I like him. I really do,” Katrina told her before letting out a long sigh. “But there’s something that he isn’t telling me.”

“Well let’s hope that you find out what it is sooner rather than later.”

Watching her first hockey game, Katrina was pleasantly surprised at how quickly she got into it. It was so fast paced and it was exciting. This was definitely something she would have to make a habit of doing, especially when she has the free time. Many times, her gaze went away from the forwards and the defense to lock onto the one in-between the pipes for the Rangers. He was on fire and she couldn’t believe how well Hank was doing, well she could, but she was in awe of him and what he was able to do with his body on the ice. Before she knew it, the first period was over. The teams went into the respectful tunnels and into the locker rooms. Before Hank got to the bench, he lifted his mask to the top of his head and Katrina locked eyes with him. Biting down on her lip gently, she couldn’t help but smile at him and she saw that he returned the gesture before walking into the tunnel for his intermission break. Standing up, she made her way to where the sports anchor was waiting for her to make her way for the interview.

As she made her way, she plastered a smile on her face as she greeted them. She hoped that this wouldn’t take too long.

“Yes, that’s right,”she said hearing the voices in the ear piece. “And I have with me, Katrina Anderson from the New York Freedom. She was recently traded from Los Angeles. How are you doing Katrina?”

“I’m doing well,” Katrina said having to intently listen to what the woman was saying. “LA and New York are both big cities but they are very different so I’m still adjusting.”

“Are you enjoying New York?”

“I am,” she nodded her head with a smile on her face. “I’m finding new things to do in the downtime before the season starts. It’s a lot of fun.”

“So are you a big hockey fan?” she asked. “Or is this just something new?”

“This is actually my first hockey game and it’s a lot of fun,” Katrina laughed. “But it’s also a team bonding event. So I’m figuring things out like what icing and getting to know some of the girls that I didn’t meet at the practice a few weeks ago.”

“And how are things looking as far as the team goes?”

“Things are really good,” Katrina smiled, unsure how else to answer that question. “These girls used to be in Washington and I was in Los Angeles, so it’s different getting to know someone off the field compared to on it.”“So it looks like you are supporting the Rangers.”

“I am,” Katrina said nodding her head. “My first night in the city and I didn’t know it, but I met the goalie for the Rangers and he’s been a great friend to me ever since.”

“Speaking of Henrik Lundqvist,” she said and Katrina had the biggest urge to roll her eyes, but luckily she was able to contain herself. “Are the rumors true that the two of you are an item? No one can seem to get a word out of him about what the tabloids are printing.”

“I can’t say that I blame him,” Katrina said. “Everyone likes to have a personal life, but to set the record straight, there is nothing going on besides a friendship. He’s been helping me adjust to life in New York.”

“What about the pictures of him at your practice holding your phone?”

“That was really embarrassing to tell you the truth,” Katrina laughed. “We went to the same charity event. I left without my phone, but he saw me on it earlier and picked it up before someone else did and he heard about the practice and he came at the end and returned it to me.”

“That was awfully nice of him,” she said. “How would you rate his game so far tonight?”

“He’s a nice guy,” Katrina stated. “I know that I don’t like being judged on my performance until the end of the game, so I think I’ll let him know after the game is over with.”

“Well thank you for the time and I hope you have a great season.”

As soon as the camera man nodded that she could leave, Katrina went back to her seat. As she sat down she closed her eyes. Feeling someone nudge her, she opened her eyes slightly and saw Abby nodding to someone in Ranger’s staff clothes.

“Ms. Anderson?”

Katrina nodded her head. The man just handed her a piece of paper and left. She was confused. Opening the paper she saw it was a note. Smiling at the message, she put it in her bag. Before she could Abby grabbed it and opened it.

Meet me in the locker rooms after the game.
Hank

Handing the note back to Katrina, Abby couldn’t get the grin off her face.

At the end of the game, the home team won. Rangers defeated the Capitals 3-2. Katrina couldn’t help but smile at that. It was an amazing game and Hank did an amazing job. He worked well with his team and she could tell they appreciated all of his hard work. Waiting a little while before heading to the locker room, Katrina was glad that Abby was going to wait until she heard from Katrina to see if Hank was giving her a ride home before taking off. It was amazing how well they seemed to click and Katrina enjoyed every second of it.

“Hey.”

“Hi.” Katrina smiled at Hank who was dressed in a nice suit.

“So did you enjoy yourself?”

“You were amazing Hank,” Katrina admitted. “And the game was amazing. Especially for my first one.”

Wrapping his arms around her in a hug, he brought her close to him as Marian Gaborik left the locker room. So that just left Hank and Katrina.

“So now that I’ve seen your game,” Katrina said as he let go of her as he put his shoes on.

“It’ll only be fair if you come to see one of mine when the season gets under way.”

“Oh?” he asked, looking at her. “Is that so?”

“It is.”

“I guess, we’ll have to work something out.” Hank said as he stood up.

Throwing her arms around him in a hug, Katrina couldn’t contain her happiness for him. “I’m so proud of you Hank.”

Letting go of him, she looked into his eyes and was surprised at what she saw. He was staring right back at her. Moving closer to him, her lips found his. It wasn’t what she thought it would be. But then again it had been a while since she had done this with a man she had some kind of feelings for. She placed her hands on the back of his neck as his hands went to her hips and moved her even closer to him. This kiss was intoxicating to her, but she didn’t want it to end, but it did. Sooner than she would have liked. Moving in to kiss him again, she was surprised and confused as to why he was moving away from her.

“I’m sorry.”

Katrina scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

“I cannot do this with you Kitty,” Hank said using his nickname for her while moving a piece of her hair from her face. “I shouldn’t have kissed you back.”

“Was it that bad?” Katrina asked, feeling the tears in her eyes. “I want to understand what I did that was so wrong.”

“You haven’t done anything.”

“Then why are you acting like we just committed one of the deadly sins?” she asked.

“I didn’t know you felt this way,” he told her. “You’re my friend.”

“Are you that disgusted by the thought of being more with me?” she asked feeling the tears in her eyes come close to spilling over.

“No-“ Hank started as he wiped away a few stray tears.

“Then why?” Katrina questioned him as she cut him off. “Because you are confusing me.”

“There’s someone else, Kitty. Someone I care for.”

Katrina felt as if she was kicked in the gut. Backing away from him she turned and walked briskly.

“Kitty, wait.” Hank called as she made it to the locker room door.

She opened it and ran as fast as she could. Heading to where Abby was waiting for her. Knowing that she didn’t look good, she could hear Hank yelling for her. As soon as she got out of the arena and spotted Abby’s car she made her way over and opened the unlocked passenger’s side door. Getting inside she closed the door and locked it before putting her seatbelt on. “Can you just take me home, please?”

Abby saw the tears and she could hear the broken note in her friends’ voice. She didn’t have to ask twice. She saw Hank, but she drove past him and didn’t bother to ask Katrina what happened. When she was ready, she would be there for her friend. The drive into Manhattan was quiet besides a few sobs coming from Katrina. When they got to the apartment, Katrina grabbed her bag and looked at Abby. “Thanks for the ride. And for waiting for me.”

“Anytime,” Abby told her. “I’ve got your back.”

With a half smile that wasn’t even close to reaching her eyes, Katrina got out of Abby’s car and made her way into her apartment building. On the ride up to the elevator, her phone started to ring. Pulling it out of her bag, she saw Hank’s smiling face from one of the lunches they shared. She couldn’t deny he had a beautiful smile. She hit the ignore button and put her phone in her pocket as the elevator doors opened. She made it into her apartment and locked her door. Then her phone went off again. Looking at the screen, she saw it was Hank. Ignoring it yet again, she turned the phone off once again.

Katrina refused to talk to Hank. No she didn’t want to admit that she felt brokenhearted. And now she knew what it was that he wasn’t telling her. But this was not the way she wanted to find out.

The Rangers lost their last preseason game. Katrina still wouldn’t talk to Hank.

On the first of October the Rangers left for the first game of the season. Katrina still hadn’t said a word to Hank. She hadn’t seen anyone since the game. She knew she would have to eventually, but at the moment, it just hurt too much.